circuscritic

@circuscritic@lemmy.ca

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Taiwan to acquire more than 1,000 armed drones in new US arms sale (www.cnn.com)

The United States has approved the $360 million sale of more than 1,000 small armed drones to Taiwan, as the self-ruled island claimed by China aims to strengthen its asymmetrical warfare abilities with an eye on successful tactics used on the battlefield in Ukraine....

circuscritic,

These are squad level ground launched air to ground munitions i.e. they’re small enough to be carried by infantry units and have the explosive charge more akin to antitank munitions.

circuscritic,

…it’s a monarchy.

If anyone you read, or know, ever refers to a monarchy as progressive, you can immediately disregard everything they ever write, or say.

The only context where it’s at least explainable would be in a limited to direct comparison between Jordan and the other regional monarchs with large petroleum reserves.

circuscritic, (edited )

You can categorize any smaller country as a pawn when they’re placed between two competing powers, but they often really don’t have much of a choice in that.

And TBF Castro wanted to push the Cuban missile crisis a hell of a lot further then then Khrushchev was willing to. So maybe more pitbull than pawn, at least for a time.

But real talk, America has horribly exploited and abused Cuba since the Spanish-American war, and let’s just say, still lightly meddled in their affairs for nearly 50 years prior to the post war occupation.

So getting your feels up in a twist about Russia managing to sail a handful of warships to Cuba, is kinda petty. Especially considering that it’s even odds that the fucking engines catch fire on the return trip.

circuscritic,

I got as far as the second paragraph, which consists of the following quote from a Google VP:

“I’m not going to talk about Recall, but I think the reason that some people feel it’s creepy is when it doesn’t feel useful, and it doesn’t feel like something they initiated or that they get a clear benefit from it”

That’s somehow worse than I imagined. I can at least understand being intentionally sinister, or overtly anti-privacy, but that level of delusion is somehow actually more terrifying.

circuscritic, (edited )

lol.

Just search for Purism customer support experiences.

I’m honestly amazed there hasn’t been a fraud, or some other consumer protection type criminal investigation.

All that baggage, and their hardware is also laughably outdated and overpriced.

Which is unfortunate, because the concept is amazing and clearly there’s a sizable market for it.

Here is an example of just ONE flavor of Purism customer experiences:

Announce current gen hardware and current pricing.

Customer pays

Customer receives hardware 5 years later, after being told approx. 362 times that cancellation refunds are down, or unable to be processed.

Customer tries to immediately return the 5 year old laptop that was just delivered and is told “No Returns”

There are other variations that you can read about on various forums.

circuscritic, (edited )

There’s too many factors to name in a brief comment, but here’s an interesting statistic:

In all recent European elections, all center-left parties that have tried to swing to the right on immigration to try and woo right-wing voters, have lost seats. No exceptions.

Edit: Clarified the swing on immigration was to the right.

circuscritic,

WP artillery is legal illumination round, and it’s use in war is not this automatic war crime that people often believe.

You just described a legal application of WP:

Illumination of battle space to enable artillery spotters to coordinate indirect fire missions using standard munitions e.g. 155mm, mortars, etc.

However, intentional use of WP as an incendiary munition is where it does become a war crime.

I’m not saying US Forces in Iraq did, or didn’t, illegally use WP, but I am saying you described it’s intended and legal application.

Legal doesn’t mean moral, justified, or right, it just means it’s not a criminal act under the legal frameworks we currently use to manage warfare.

Israel’s obstruction of investigation into 7 October rape allegations risks truth never being found, advocates warn (www.middleeastmonitor.com)

Israel’s leadership is pushing the allegations that Hamas fighters raped Israeli women during the October 7 attacks for its own political objectives while the government’s ongoing refusal to allow the United Nations to conduct a full investigation into the matter threatens to hinder any evidence, advocates have warned.

circuscritic, (edited )

Rape happens in war. I don’t believe it was used systemically on Oct. 7, as Israel claims, or at least, there’s no evidence of that.

However, to claim that no one was raped during an attack that long and protracted, and with so many people involved, defies history and the realities of conflict.

What’s worse, anyone claiming “no rapes happened” as a counter to “it was systemically used”, means that a single case of rape invalidates their claim, and by default, bolsters Israel’s lie.

circuscritic, (edited )

Did you really just try and claim that rape doesn’t happen during active and protracted urban combat…?

Also, while I agree that of the attackers that day, the Hamas forces were the least likely culprits due to training and defined mission objectives, they weren’t the only people to enter Israel after the barriers were breached. That doesn’t mean they didn’t, just that I think there are other scenarios with a higher probability.

And last, I’m not really sure if you’re being intentionally honest with your retelling of events, or if you really just don’t know that much about the scope and duration of the attack. Either way, you don’t really have a firm grasp enough to speak on this with any sort of authority, certainly not with the confidence you seem to have.

circuscritic,

There’s a huge difference between isolated incidents, and the systemic use of rape as a weapon of war.

One’s a regular criminal offense, and the other is Hague War Crime Tribal level of offense.

circuscritic, (edited )

Thanks for clearing that up, you’re being intentionally disingenuous.

Never have I defended the IDF, nor have I condemned any Palestinian combatants.

I certainly never expressed any skepticism about the genocide or sexual violence that does appear to be deliberately systemic within the IDF, or at minimum, widely tolerated up the chain.

So, with that out of the way. Re-read my comments, and then decide to engage honestly, or just go and try and peddle your uninformed garbage somewhere else.

circuscritic,

Are you relying to the wrong the wrong comment? Or did you just not read mine correctly…?

Before I lay into the absurdity of your response as it relates to my comment, please double check.

Because it should be obvious that my comment adheres to the UN charter you reference and I never claimed that systemic only includes weaponized rape ordered through the chain of command.

circuscritic,

It’s telling that you think a multi-day combat operation over a geographically dispersed area is just one very long firefight.

It sounds like you’re basing this off a mixture of movies, television, and your gut.

circuscritic, (edited )

What are you talking about?

This was definitely NOT a huge component of the Hillary Clinton campaign.

It also definitely did NOT play into the Democrat’s delusion that any left leaning voters they lost by shifting to the right would be replaced by the GOP moderates it would attract.

Oh, and Chuck Schummer also NEVER repeatedly made these claims in public, or during media appearances.

So yeah, this is a bold and definitely BRAND NEW strategy.

No way it goes tits up.

Tuberville’s Stupid Response to Trump Conviction: “This is a War” (newrepublic.com)

“People in our caucus… to me, they’re not really taking this as serious as we should,” Tuberville said. “American people need to wake up. This is a war; this is a war on our Constitutional rights, our constitutional republic. This is not as much about Donald Trump as it is about the people in this country.”...

circuscritic,

Exactly, and I bet you feel fucking stupid as shit now. Don’t you?

Well, I’m not getting left behind this time. No fucking way.

I’m not waiting for the SCOTUS ruling to get in on this action. I’ve already got the ball rolling on all types of fraudulent and criminal financial dealings.

What’s the opposite of a statute of limitations?

circuscritic, (edited )

Those Russian mercenaries are running recruitment operations to feed foreign nationals e.g. Syrians into the Ukraine theatre.

circuscritic,

Gee. I wonder what the difference could be…

But, don’t fear. As long as the current political trends continue, something tells me America might change its mind again… shortly after the new administration is inaugurated.

No Gaza ceasefire until Israel war aims achieved, Netanyahu says (www.bbc.com)

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted there will be no permanent ceasefire in Gaza until Hamas’s military and governing capabilities are destroyed and all hostages are released. His statement comes after US President Joe Biden announced Israel had proposed a three-stage plan to Hamas aimed at reaching a...

circuscritic,

Pretty sure they have summer camps for that now, where you can pray away the goy.

Someone should inform the Israeli war cabinet, we might of just found a workable ceasefire proposal.

circuscritic,

There’s a lot more to sovereign monetary policy than currency exchange rates, such as the capital controls being exercised here

circuscritic, (edited )

This isn’t a murder trial. This can have significantly adverse affects on the punitive damages.

Just looks the Alex Jones trial as a recent example.

circuscritic, (edited )

That’s irrelevant to my point, which was that destroying evidence in a trial with monetary damages can result in increased damages, instead of avoiding them.

If you’re still not getting it, you should reread the comment thread and to see the context for that example being used.

‘What’s the Problem?’ Zelensky Challenges West Over Hesitations. (www.nytimes.com)

With his army struggling to fend off fierce Russian advances all across the front, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine urged the United States and Europe to do more to defend his nation, dismissing fears of nuclear escalation and proposing that NATO planes shoot down Russian missiles in Ukrainian airspace....

circuscritic, (edited )

They have thousands*. Although due to the high cost and difficulty of maintaining them over decades, it’s quite possible that only hundreds will actually detonate once they reach their targets.

Which is still enough to cause a nuclear winter.

*Thousands of warheads, but many of those will be MIRV, so a single ICBM can impact multiple locations.

circuscritic, (edited )

Dear god, no…just no.

I wish the West would arm Ukraine with squadrons of 4.5 gen airframes, fully stocked and layered air defense systems, hundreds of Abrams/Leopard II’s, and setup massive training facilities in bordering NATO counties.

However, putting NATO troops in theatre is such an absurd escalatory risk that I refuse to believe it’s not intentionally designed to prompt a full scale military intervention.

Training troops isn’t a huge escalation, nor is Estonian trainers getting blown up (bad as that would be). But if this policy moves forward, it’s only a matter of time before a dozen, or more, American or British trainers get blown up, and that could very easily ignite that powder keg into something that can’t be contained, because the hawks won’t want it to be.

That kind of defeats the purpose of “help the Ukrainians defeat Russia in Ukraine, to prevent a wider war”.

circuscritic,

You’re misunderstanding where my concerns are placed, and why.

Imagine a Russian cruise missile volley hits the mess hall, or barracks, and kills 30-50 Americans.

How do you think an American administration would respond?

How will the Russians respond to the Americans response?

What rung of escalation ladder do we end up at?

What happens when another strike kills 15 UK troops the following week?

How will the UK respond?

How will the Russians respond to that?

How much further until the last rung?

Yes, we both agree that Ukraine needs support, and much more then they’re getting.

But I don’t think you’re fully appreciating the risks associated with deploying active duty NATO troops to Ukraine.

circuscritic, (edited )

It’s NOT just about what Russia wants…

This is the type of plan that hawks in the west would draw up because THEY want the casus belli to justify deploying combat troops.

That’s my point. Those risks are intentionally high, because that’s what they want.

And no, that’s not okay. Russia has no chance to win a conventional conflict against the West, period.

What do you think they’ll do to avoid that crushing defeat by NATO forces right on their border, and within their occupied territory?

circuscritic, (edited )

…are you seriously claiming that a direct conflict with NATO forces on their borders, or within their occupied territories, wouldn’t change Russia’s strategic calculus in regards to the use of nuclear weapons?

Please, tell me what base of geopolitical knowledge, or Russian military doctrine, are you basing this on?

Because every white paper and analysis of Russian First Strike Doctrine that I’ve read, would seem to fly in the face of your claims. So… please put my mind at rest and show me the sources that I’m missing here.

circuscritic, (edited )

Holy shit …

No, I’m saying flood Ukraine with Western arms because it’s worth it.

But putting in active duty NATO troops is a sure fire ticket to an uncontrollable escalation.

I have to admit though, seeing all you keyboard strategists act like force on force conflict between NATO and Russia is no big deal, makes me believe either you’re all genuine idiots, or are actually pushing a coordinated message yourselves. Most likely it’s the former, but that’s just a guess.

circuscritic,

Ah, so I guess that’s a “no” on you providing a single source to backup your claims, or disprove mine.

Nice touch claiming that I’m “concern trolling”, but it’s pretty obvious who the troll is here.

circuscritic, (edited )

Start here:

fpri.org/…/russias-nuclear-policy-after-ukraine/

ft.com/…/f18e6e1f-5c3d-4554-aee5-50a730b306b7

www.csis.org/analysis/russias-nuclear-doctrine

Pay close attention to parts that discuss strategy and doctrine regarding the use of tactical nuclear weapons.

Also, lol at your lame personal attacks. Either get educated on the topics you speak on, or just shut up.

It seems to me that all your claims are based on a mixture of your feels and "trust me bro".

circuscritic, (edited )

Next time, open the actual document.

"There is also talk that Russia is working to develop low-yield nuclear weapons and/or modernizing its nonstrategic nuclear weapons, perhaps with the intent of creating a class of nuclear weapons less likely to draw a nuclear counterattack and are therefore more “usable.”

That paper is from 2016, and those tactical nuclear weapons are now in service.

Also, as I’ve already written, I don’t view flooding Ukraine with Western arms as a significant risk to the escalation ladder. That is not the case for force on force conflict with NATO, especially on Russia’s doorstep. Which again, is laid out in their doctrine.

To clear, I just said to start with those links. You should definitely branch out and spend a lot more time reading up, because clearly you haven’t yet.

Please, finish reading all those documents, and then read some more, and then show me all the white papers, academic articles, or think tank papers that support your position, or disprove mine.

circuscritic,

No, he’s saying that national Democracts leverage the black community for votes, and in exchange, repeatedly screw them over - when they manage to remember they exist outside of election cycles.

At least, that’s how I read his comment. It is only partially intelligible.

circuscritic,

It’s possible they think that, but it’s not something that is made clear through their comments here, at least not to me. But that’s mostly because they’re very poorly written, like I said, only partially intelligible.

circuscritic,

She is basically the Koch brothers, but bigger, dumber, and more evil.

The only reason why the Koch family is probably worse, is because their influence flows through the American state.

All this is to say, it’s a good bet that after this story dies down, the gallery will quietly acquiesce and take down the painting. This will either be followed by a carrot, or a removal of whatever stick she used.

circuscritic,

Nah, I respected Thomas for never asking questions.

He was the only one of the nine justices, who for so long, didn’t pretend that his mind wasn’t already made up, or that there was an answer a lawyer could give that would change his predetermined ruling.

He knew what the assignment was, and fuck if he was going to waste any more time then necessary.

circuscritic, (edited )

Awesome. Truly spectacular.

Generative AI is so energy intensive ($$$), that Google is requiring users subscribe to Gemini.

Google is entirely dependent on advertising sales. Ad revenue subsidizes literally everything else, from Android development to whichever 8-12 products and services they launch and subsequently cancel each year.

Now, Google wants to remove web results and just use generative AI instead of search as it’s default user interface.

So, like I said: Awesome.

circuscritic, (edited )

The previous coalition government started this persecution, but Albo’s Labor government drove it home.

So it seems like governments love prosecuting whistleblowers would be the correct take on this situation.

Edit: Just to be extra clear, Australia’s current government is Labor (center left party), but the previous government was a coalition of the Liberals (mainstream, yet still far right party) and the Nationals (deep fried crazy far right party).

So the unjust prosecution of David McBride started under the previous rightwing coalition government, but the current left leaning Labor government continued the prosecution and got the conviction.

circuscritic,

That’s a fine metric for your own internal political compass, but it’s a poor one to use when trying to discuss or describe world events, especially on a forum like this.

Not because it’s an indefensible position, but because no one else is going to know your definition of rightwing is literally anything that isn’t already a communist utopia.

But I’m to go out on a limb and assume, no offense, that you just weren’t aware that Australian Labor regained power after nearly a decade of being the opposition…which is understandable, most people don’t follow Australian politics, outside of Australia.

circuscritic,

They are center left, which yes, does include some neoliberal tendencies. However, they still support Australia’s welfare state and have very strong ties to, and support from, the relatively strong unions that still exist in Australia.

circuscritic, (edited )

Zero…his electoral platform was basically “stop helping Ukraine”.

There’s no upside for an independent Russian resident of Slovakia to be a provocateur and potentially kill their ally, and nothing would reinvigorate weakening Western support for Ukraine than the Russian state attempting to assassinate a European head of state.

circuscritic, (edited )

Wouldn’t be the first time I assumed wrong, but I’m going to wait for better sourcing than the Kyiv Post for this particular story.

They have an existential rational for blaming Russia, as well as an obligation to feed the propaganda narrative for their ongoing war. That’s not a criticism as that’s what is required of them at this moment, but it’s an acknowledgement of why I will wait for additional reporting that isn’t sourced from Ukraine, or a single Hungarian journalist on Twitter.

Edit: Look, a different article with different sourcing that points in a different direction. Either way, this situation will take time to get an accurate accounting of what actually happened, and why.

circuscritic,

This isn’t a bad thing, or a good thing, it’s just a geopolitical reality.

Serbia is still within even a weakened Russia’s sphere of influence, and is unlikely to move towards Europe.

But with Russia not looking so great, they still need geopolitical allies to invest and help grow their economy, possibly help with security i.e. technology.

China actually helped Serbian nationalists during their Kosovo genocide, and got their embassy in Belgrade bombed because of that. Well, because they let the Serbs use a part of it as a signals and comms center. Point is, they have very recent historical ties.

Also, Russia isn’t in a position to really push back on China for anything, so, here we are.

circuscritic,

Why should they know better?

She, and Chuck Schummer, will always have more in common with Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump, then with any working class voter, or rank and file Democrat.

They’re two sides of the same coin, serving the same master.

circuscritic,

That’s not what I said.

circuscritic,

That’s doubly ironic considering Modi’s role in orchestrating anti-muslim pogroms, and the Indian government’s role in countless pogroms against Sikhs.

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